They were the Orlando Magic, but they could have passed for the Washington Generals. You remember the Generals, the team that always loses to the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Spurs are hardly the Globetrotters, but they made the Magic look like the Generals, rolling to a 108-72 rout Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.

The Magic (20-48) were just what the doctor ordered for a Spurs team that had lost three in a row and 11 of its last 14 games. San Antonio (38-30) moved from No. 10 to No. 9 in the Western Conference standings after the Denver Nuggets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers later Tuesday night.

The Spurs are actually tied with No. 8 Utah (38-30), but the Jazz own the tiebreaker over San Antonio.

"Every game is a playoff game for us," Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge said. "I've got to go out and play well and lead these guys, and that was my goal tonight. Come out focused and be myself and try to get going early, and it worked out. Guys made shots. The ball moved around well. We scored off of our defense, too."

Tuesday night's meeting with Orlando was the start of a six-game home stand for the Silver and Black, who play fifth-place New Orleans (39-28) on Thursday night..

Aldridge, returning to the lineup after missing Monday night's loss to Houston with a sore knee, led all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He also had seven rebounds.

"He keeps himself fresh," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Aldridge. "He was in there this morning taking shots and getting ready, and that sort of thing, so he's always going to be ready."

Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray had 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals in Tuesday night's 108-72 blowout of the Orlando Magic in the first game of a six-game home stand for the Silver and Black.

(Antonio Morano bit.ly/XR79FT / Special to Kens5.com), KENS

Popovich praised the Spurs' defense, which has been suspect during the team's nosedive since Feb.1.

"I thought our defense was very good," Popovich said. "Patty Mills really set the tone defensively for us. He had a lot of aggressiveness, a lot of energy. DJ (Dejounte Murray) was great with his hands. We had a lot of deflections, so the defense really set the tone.

"People guarded their men, took pride in it, and the rest of the team kind of followed through with weakside (help) and boards and kind of fueled the offense a little bit, so I thought they did a good job."

Orlando, which rolled to a 114-87 home win over S.A. in their first meeting Oct. 27, shot only 34.1 percent (28/82) and was 7 of 23 (30.4 percent) from the three-point line.

"I think that's something that we've been missing and for the most part of the season it's just being able to be on the front foot aggressively, defensively, to get the opposing team out of their comfort zone and not let them run what they want to run," Mills said. "To be able to guard the point guard tonight and just try to create a little havoc that way.

"We need to bring that back and pick up the team defense a little bit. That was something important. That, mindset-wise, to me was important. Hopefully that trickles down a little bit and we can carry it on to the next few games."

Point guard Tony Parker scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and dished out a game-high eight assists in the Spurs' 108-72 rout of the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night at the AT&amp;T Center.

(Antonio Morano bit.ly/XR79FT / Special to Kens5.com), KENS

The Spurs shot 47.6 percent (40/84) overall and were 47.4 percent (9/19) from the three-point line. Green nailed 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc, and Mills and Bryn Forbes made two each.

San Antonio led only 24-18 after one quarter, but outscored the Magic 38-19 in the second to take control of the game. The Spurs took the third period 34-20.

Former Spur Jonathon Simmons and D.J. Augustin led Orlando with 10 points each. Magic coach Frank Vogel also talked about the San Antonio's stifling defense.

"They obviously came in very motivated," he said. "Both by their own playoff situation and losing to us last time in Orlando. They took the pressure to us. Picking up full court, denying all over the court, and really played with great energy on that end of the floor.

"Took us out of a lot of things early, and when we got punched in the mouth, we really lost focus at the task at hand. We played poor the rest of the game."

The Magic shot only 33.3 percent (8/24) in the first quarter, while the Spurs made 11 of 18 field-goal attempts (61.1 percent).

Ahead by 25 (62-37) at halftime -- their largest halftime lead at home this season -- the Spurs opened the second half with a 14-2 run that put them up by 37 (76-39) in the first three minutes of the third period.

Aldridge led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He was the only San Antonio player in double figures after two quarters. Kyle Anderson (6) and Aldridge (4) led the Spurs in rebounding in the first half.

The Silver and Black shot 56.4 percent (22/39) and hit 5 of 9 three-pointers in the first two quarters. Green, who started, had two treys.

Orlando had trouble getting much traction offensively in the first half, shooting only 35.7 percent (15/42) and hitting only 3 of 11 three-pointers. The Magic did not have a player score in double figures in the first half.